Nigel's Nature

 There was another very high tide today for the January WeBS count following last night’s full moon. As in December, most waterbirds were either at the flooded saltmarsh on the far side of the main channel or in the nearside pasture field. No chance at all of anything much on the nearside shore with dogs running out of control and their owners shouting at them. Apart, that is, from several Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits who paid little heed to the anthropic disturbance, too busy chasing flies among heaps of seaweed on the upper beach. A quartet of Stonechats flitting about the dunes also seemed unfazed. I wonder if they are the same family party that bred here in the summer or maybe winter visitors from elsewhere. Shelduck were again the most numerous of the wildfowl, although down considerably from 204 last month to 136. Dabbling duck numbers were similar to last time: Mallard 13 and Wigeon 20, but no Teal spotted. Diving ducks were again represented by a couple of Goldeneye an...

 Bands of rain, strong south-westerly, high tide 15.23. There were five Pale-bellied Brent Geese at Bishop Burn late afternoon among about 120 Mute Swans. The Brents always remind me of Dublin where I grew up. A thousand or so Pale-bellies used to winter in Dublin Bay at that time, especially on the north-side near my home. The Bull Island provided high tide sanctuary and the surrounding mudflats had plentiful Zostera seagrass for feeding. In more recent years, they have taken to cropping amenity grasslands in local urban parks, seemingly unphased by human activity. They have even become an argument against the development of parkland for housing. I know that Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland also hosts a flock and that’s just a short hop across the North Channel from Wigtownshire, so I will be interested to see how many turn up here. Recent D&G Annual Bird Reports give counts over 300 for Loch Ryan. Today’s gathering of swans seems to be a pretty high count for this site, ...